Haley receives rock-star welcome at Belton Middle School

Belton Middle School sixth-grader Joseph Carter playfully holds up two fingers behind Gov. Nikki Haley while a group photo is taken.

Anderson Independent Mail

BELTON - Students at Belton Middle School gave Gov. Nikki Haley a welcoming fit for a rock star Friday.

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders whooped and cheered when she walked into the gym. She visited as part of a tour to prevent school bullying.

Haley's 4-inch high-heels clicked as she paced the hardwood floor.

"Cool kids don't bully, and bullying is not cool," she said. "If you participate, you're a bully, too. So this is my question to you: Do you want to be a leader or do you want to be a follower?"

"Leaders!" the students yelled.

This is the governor's second anti-bullying school tour, following one that began last fall. The topic of curbing cruel taunting gained national attention following multiple suicides among preteens, teens and college students.

"You'll be remembered when you leave this school," Haley told them. "Do you want to be that person who everybody says oh, she was always making fun of everyone?"

Being different, she told them, often makes you a target for bullies who are unhappy with themselves.

The governor said she and her little brother were bullied in school. As children of immigrants from India their skin and hair were darker than most of their peers in Bamberg. Haley attended public school until 10th grade, when she and her brother switched schools to ease the problem.

"It was hard," she said. "He went through a lot of what I went through, but a lot of kids go through it. It's something that every child goes through. Some can handle it better than others. He handled it as much as he could, and he couldn't handle it any more so he needed to be moved out."

She smiled. "I was the only one who could drive him 18 miles away so that's how that came about."

Haley joked that bullying is no stranger to the State House.

"I have this group called the legislature, and they love to bully," she told students.

The governor later showed a short film featuring her, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier urging students that "cool kids don't bully."

Teaching assistant Maxine LeCroy said in this case the messenger is almost as important as the message.

"That's going to mean a lot to some of these kids to see their hero up here saying hey, it's not cool to do this," she said. "Sometimes that's all it takes."

A few parents came to the assembly, including Tammy Wood, mother of Emily Wood, the student president who introduced Haley.

"We're so excited," she said. "This doesn't happen every day, does it?"

After her hour-long visit at the school Haley headed to the Loom Craft plant in Belton, which manufactures blankets.

Before leaving, she spent about 20 minutes appeasing eager fans.

She posed for pictures with each grade and signed her autograph on scraps of paper and on the back of students' identification cards. At times, she disappeared into swarms of children, who clamored for a word or a hug.

"They're reaching puberty. They do have a lot of emotions," he said. "They're up one minute and down one minute, and it is a time when some unfortunately bully."

Haley favors talking to students directly about the problem over setting aside state money for anti-bullying programs.

"It's not something I think we need to do," she said. "You know, when you talk to kids they get it. When you tell them to read something or attend a class it's just another class. But when you show up and say this is what you're doing and you have the ability to stop and this is how you stop that's more effective than any amount of money you could throw after it."